On The Run
by ducky72
Summary: -Mibbs- Set about two months after 'Ex-File'. Hollis Mann returns from Hawaii to do a friend a favor ... and meets Gibbs. Will she finally tell him what had really made her leave? ...
1. Chapter 1

**Summery:** Gibbs is given an order which soon turns his world upside-down.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own any of the show´s characters. Never did, never will. I just borrow them for this excursion and I promise to give them back safe and sound in the end. In the _very_ end...

**Beta:** Actually... the first chapter is still unbetaed, since I haven´t heard from my beta in a while. But I thought I should get this story started to let you know I haven´t given up thinking of some weird stuff.

**Spoiler:** Be prepared...

**__****-**_**xxxxx-**_

**Chapter One**

"Jethro!"

Gibbs had barely arrived at NCIS in the morning when Director Jenny Shepard stepped out of MTAC, and on catching sight of him she called for him from above.

Gibbs glanced up at her.

"I need to talk to you," Jenny said and started to walk down the stairs to the squad room.

Gibbs watched her silently, sipped at his coffee and patiently waited until Jenny came to stand right in front of him.

"What´s up, Director?" he wanted to know.

"An order. High priority. I want you to get on this right away."

"Okay," Gibbs nodded. The team had only just closed a case the previous evening. "We... ."

"You, Jethro," Jenny interrupted him in a strict manner. "No _'we'_ here!"

Gibbs once again sipped at his coffee, his critical eyes never stopping to study the Director´s facial expression. Swallowing the hot black liquid he nodded an awkward nod which gave the impression that he was trying to work out a stiffness in his neck.

"Care to tell me, Jen?" Gibbs eventually asked as Jenny seemed to have forgotten to continue, her gaze resting on his coffee.

"Ummm, sure," Jenny slowly dropped out of her dazed state. "I just had a strictly confidential conversation The captain of the USS Fitzgerald died last night. His last wish is to be laid to rest with his medals."

That actually wasn´t something unusual, although Gibbs never had understood what made people want to have their medals buried along with them.

"Burial at sea?" Gibbs wanted to know.

"No," Jenny replied. "Ship is lying in the port of Oceanside. The captain seemed to have been seriously ill for a while and they took him to hospital two days ago. He told his doctor about his medals, which he keeps at his house in D.C. They want us to retrieve them and send them over to Oceanside. I promised to have my best agent do this." Slight discomfort was lying in her voice.

Gibbs listened while watching the expression on Jenny´s face, a smirk decorating his lips.

"Jen, I don´t understand why you need your 'best agent' fetch some medals, but you really needn´t kiss my ass to get a coffee for free."

And handing her his coffee he mumbled, "What is it about medals that people cannot live without them even if they are dead already?"

******_To be continued..._**

**_A/N: Curious?__ Then come back for chapter 2 which finds Gibbs at the Captain´s house to get the medals..._**


	2. Chapter 2

Here´s the next chapter. Thanks DoomPrincess for helping out as beta :)

**Chapter Two**

About an hour later Gibbs parked his car in front of the deceased Captain Sumner's house.

As there weren't any existing relatives and according to the Captain's last words no one really took care of his place while he was at sea, Gibbs's task was to enter the house, fetch the box with the medals and leave unnoticed.

Gibbs was certain that there had to be a catch, but he wasn't sure if he wanted to know about it. Jenny had refused to give him more information than absolutely necessary, but she had assured him that no one knew of this box, so no one would be missing it. Although her explanation had sounded very convincing, this had only given him the idea that there was more about this order. Jenny had then told him that he would find the wooden case in a safe in the den and she had even been able to give him the combination to open the safe.

Still sitting in his car, Gibbs glanced at the property, which looked pretty modest. With the surrounding garden he imagined this once must have been a nice and beautiful place. The garden meanwhile was overgrown. There was something oppressive about this estate, which brought up an uneasy feeling in his gut, that he wasn't able to name.

With a last sip of the coffee he had with him as usual, Gibbs swallowed down the sudden melancholic feeling. Even when he was alone, he didn't allow emotions like this to surface very often.

Jerking out of his reverie, Gibbs got out of his car and made his way over to the house. Glancing at the name-plate, he made sure this really was the right place -- he didn't want to break into a house and face an astonished or even horrified family at their breakfast table.

Only five seconds later Gibbs had opened the door.

He entered the house...

... And narrowed his eyes.

A faint scent was lingering in the air. Tangy. Wooden. And definitely feminine. Perfume.

A lover? A secret girlfriend no one had known of? Or simply a neighbour who -- contrary to the Captain's assertion -- had access to the house?

Possibly. Why not?

"_Captain Sumner had been on the ship for five weeks. He used to live alone. No relatives. No one takes care of the house."_ Jenny's words came to Gibbs's mind and he again wondered if Jenny had kept something from him or if she possibly hadn't known it the better.

Gibbs called out. Just to make sure...

... And listened...

No sound was to be heard and Gibbs eventually stepped forward and took a look around the ground floor. All the doors were wide open, but nothing looked as if somebody had been here recently.

Briefly taking a look into each room, Gibbs crossed the hall which in the back part of the house turned to the right. At its end a staircase led to the upper floor.

Gibbs walked up the stairs. The faint scent was ever-present up here as well.

He had no idea where the Captain's den was, but the house wasn't very large and as it had been downstairs, all the doors were ajar, so Gibbs only needed to glance around once to find it.

As soon as he entered the room he looked around and had to smirk.

"_You will find the safe set in the left-hand wall behind the painting that's left of the desk,"_ he had been told by Jenny. Behind the _only_ picture that was on _any_ of the walls in this room, Gibbs found sarcastically. He actually had thought people were a bit more inventive nowadays.

Gibbs sighed. Thank god Jenny hadn't picked him to deliver the wooden box to Oceanside. All this hoo-ha because of a couple of medals? He still refused to believe it.

Shaking his head in disbelief, Gibbs took the painting from the wall, put it down on the desk and sighed once again. In his opinion this was nothing but a pure waste of time. But in less than five minutes he would be sitting in his car again and be on his way back to NCIS Headquarters.

He opened the safe and squinted at the wooden box inside. It was the only item in the safe and almost took it up completely. It somehow gave the impression that the safe was built specifically for this case. Gibbs took the container out of the safe and placed it on the desk.

The case looked like a small chest. It had a wrought-iron lock which was ... locked. Of course. Gibbs glanced inside the safe again. It indeed was empty.

"Okay," he voiced his thought aloud. "A key had never been mentioned."

Gibbs ran his thumb over the lock. A locked box that was shut away in a safe? Gibbs's gut once again told him that there was more behind this _'high priority order'_ than just medals.

Then his train of thoughts suddenly was interrupted.

"If you had a chance to look inside, would you do it?" a female voice behind him asked.

_To be continued..._

_A/N: Want to know who this voice belongs to? I might tell you in chapter 3 ;-)_


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N: Thanks DoomPrincess for helping as beta again._

_A/N: Thanks for the reviews. Here´s the next chapter which might tell you who has just asked Gibbs "If you had a chance to look inside, would you do it?" Find out if your guess was right...  
_

_**-xxx-**_

**Chapter Three**

Gibbs's gut twisted, but he didn't even flinch. After the initial shock had passed, he slowly lifted his head to stare outside the window.

He had heard someone step in quietly and the person had come to a stop in the door-frame only seconds before voicing what she was wondering about. The sounds of the footsteps behind him had already told him the person was female.

And somehow he had known there was no danger. So he had not bothered to turn his attention from what he had been doing. If anything at all, he had been cursing Jenny for not having been thorough.

He had been calm inside until he had heard his watcher's voice.

And it left him incredibly confused. The scent of perfume, just to start with. Since when did she wear perfume? And most of all ... _her_ ... being _here_ at all. The very last person he had expected to meet had been her. This really wasn't making any sense.

Not to him. Not yet.

Gibbs's face was holding a bitter expression, which he wouldn't want her to see, so he decided not to turn around for as long as possible.

The silence stretched as he eventually narrowed his eyes and squinted. Taking one step backwards he suspiciously eyed the front side of the desk. There it was. A lockable drawer. The key was in the lock.

Driven by his rising suspicion, he opened it and glanced inside.

Lying inside were a couple of small cases. Cases in which medals usually were kept. Taking the top most in his hand and opening it, Gibbs wasn't surprised to find a medal placed inside.

"No," after countless minutes he finally answered the woman's question.

Waiting for him to give a further explanation, the woman didn't say anything. And Gibbs indeed continued after taking a deep breath.

"Because I am sure, I would not find any medals inside like I was told." He sounded sad. And exhausted.

"No. No, you won't," the woman confirmed his presumption.

A sad tone was lying in her voice as well. Awkwardness was the main reason for their taciturnity. All-consuming feelings of guilt were surging inside both of them.

Still not daring to turn and look at her, Gibbs grabbed hold of the wooden box.

"You ... did look inside?" he wanted to know.

After taking a deep breath, the woman scornfully went into detail, leaving no doubt about her attitude towards the deceased captain. "The bastard started cheating on his wife shortly after they had been married. Took her a good three years to find out but it eventually was deciding for her to leave him and file for divorce. He was so unapologetic about it. And now he was having no qualms about cheating on his terminally ill girlfriend either. Bet he cheated on a couple more women over the years."

Then she sighed heavily before revealing, "Yes. Yes, I did look inside. More than twenty years ago, I did."

Her answer made Gibbs freeze. His knuckles went white as his hand tensed up in anger and sorrow and his grip around the wooden chest tightened.

He had known that she once had been married. He had known that her husband at the time had gone mad when they had been told that she couldn't have children, and that he had been cheating on her. He however hadn't known that her ex-husband obviously had been cheating practically all through their three years of marriage. Gibbs also hadn't known about how she had found out. That, she had never talked about. And should she ever have mentioned a name, which Gibbs was pretty sure she hadn't, he doubted that he would have made the connection here.

Gibbs now wondered if Jenny had known about this part of the Captain's past. But most possibly she hadn't. She would not have handed that task to _him_.

Once again the silence stretched.

Although she couldn't see his face -- for Gibbs was still avoiding turning and looking at her -- she knew his face was holding an expression of torture. To learn about the _'how'_ must have struck him to the core. He practically relived the moment that she had described and he suffered. Suffered, like she had suffered twenty-two years ago when she had opened the box -- blissfully ignorant -- because she had believed it to be the correct place where her husband, a man ten years her senior, kept awards and her innocent intention had been to put inside the one that had been lying on the table. The least she had expected to find inside had been offensive photos and love letters.

It was an understatement to say what she had revealed made Gibbs feel sorry for her. It devastated him. Because many many years ago someone had deeply hurt the woman he had once been together with.

The woman he _still_ was in love with.

The woman who had suddenly disappeared out of his life and since then he had spent nights pondering what had really made her go in the end without leaving a note.

Why hadn't she told him what she had been going through?

Why had she kept this from him?

And it was at that very instant that Gibbs understood that she hadn't told him out of the same reason that he had avoided to tell her about his wife and daughter. Neither one's silence had ever been a question of trust. Talking about the most bitter parts of their past would make the other one feel the pain as well and they both hadn't wanted the other one to suffer because of something that had happened a long time ago.

_To be continued..._

_A/N: Hmmm... no name here. Baddy me. But a couple of hints should give away who the mysterious woman is ;-) _


	4. Chapter 4

_A/N: Well, probably not that many hints, but I'm sure you already know who this story is about ;) Sorry for not updating faster, but things are a little crazy at the moment and I´m thinking about changing my job. (Does anyone happen to look for a labrat?) _

_Okay, on with the story. Don´t hesitate to curse at me, I know some of you will ;-)  
_

**Chapter Four**

Gibbs eventually turned around to glance at the woman across the room. His gut twisted. It hit him hard to realize and admit to himself that he still held the deepest feelings for her.

For several weeks he had tried hard to repress and forget what had happened down in his basement two months earlier.

"_I__'ll call you," she had told him before she left._

She never called. And he never dared to. Instead, he had tried to push away that glimpse of hope that had remained after she had left that night.

Reluctantly, he had kept telling himself over and over again that he had to accept the decision she had made, which he had only learned about through a paper.

'_Lt. Colonel retires after 22 years' _the headline had read.

Sure, he had known _that_. But ... Hawaii??

The little spark she had achieved to light inside of him, he in turn had achieved to dim again. And he had been somewhat convinced that he had succeeded in leaving behind this chapter of his life. Like so many others before.

He was now proven to have been wrong, again.

But Gibbs was not the only one who was emotionally shaken up by this unexpected encounter.

Seeing him again, seeing him stand almost in front of her and look at her -- his inner struggle clearly visible to her -- made her tremble inwardly. Had it been a mistake to come back here? Or had the actual mistake been to leave? Leave ... just like this? To run away?

For the first time in weeks she questioned having come to the right decision.

As to the first, no, it had not been a mistake to come back to D.C. She had a good reason to be here again. This having to do with the bastard she once had been married to or not.

She wasn't getting to contemplate the second point as Gibbs eventually broke the silence.

"Twenty-two years is a long time, Hollis. Why did you come back to this place _now_? What is this about? Do not tell me you broke into this house... ." He sounded confused rather than angry.

"Like you did?" Hollis interrupted him quietly. For a brief second a small smile appeared on her lips. "Well, since I never sold him my half... . So actually it still belongs to... . Don't ask why, Jethro. Yet, I have to admit, I thought about breaking open the safe. I still have the key to that wooden box, but unfortunately I forgot about the code to the safe."

Hollis started to relax a little. "Tell me, Jethro, is NCIS interested in the medals or in this box?"

Yeah, if he only knew the answer to this question. "I don't know, Hollis. I don't know."

Gibbs felt too exhausted to even shrug. The two of them just looked at each other, both feeling awkward and both putting all their effort in trying to hide their feelings of guilt and sorrow and regret.

The air became palpable with the tension that threatened to crush them almost instantly.

Hollis felt she had to do something, otherwise she knew she would loose the battle she had started the day she had decided to move to Hawaii. She slowly lifted her hand in which she was holding the key to the mysterious wooden box.

Gibbs's eyes focused on the key -- the sheet anchor that brought him back to professionalism instead of personal issues.

_That_, he could deal with a lot better. Still curious about this strange _'high priority order'_ he started to nod.

Knowing this would only make things harder for her, Hollis walked over towards him. She took care to stay at least one step away from him and not enter his personal space more than absolutely necessary.

With a trembling hand she inserted the key in the lock and turned it.

Before she was able to lift the lid, Gibbs laid one hand on top of hers.

The soft touch, this well-remembered feeling of his warm rough skin on hers, sent shivers down her spine.

Why? Why couldn't she just pull away her hand from under his?

Realizing that something was making Hollis feel uneasy, Gibbs gently offered, "You ... needn't look inside, Holl."

"I am no longer married to him. It can't be worse than it was twenty years ago." And with that Hollis lifted the lid of the small chest.

And to a certain degree Hollis had to admit that things _could_ be worse, though on a different basis. She immediately had to acknowledge that modern technology offered much better possibilities to take very private -- if not to say compromising -- photos.

With a tense expression on his face, Gibbs rummaged through the pictures, while a mild attack of dizziness made Hollis sit down on a chair nearby.

"So this is what they are trying to hide," Gibbs said as he bit by bit started to understand the far-reaching consequences of the secrets the box in front of him held.

He placed one -- to some extent harmless -- photo on the table, which showed a lady of Washington's upper society at the Captain's side. A _married_ woman.

Hollis glanced at the picture.

Only now did Gibbs realize how pale Hollis looked.

**_To be continued..._**

**_The two of them need to talk, but will they really do?_**

**_A/N: For the purpose of this story I take the liberty to ben__d the timeline a little. This story takes place two months after "Ex-File". I shortened the time between the episode and Hollis's retirement to 4 weeks, since then 4 more weeks have passed. Also, Hollis probably never was married..._**


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Sorry, this is taking me so long. Hope you haven´t given me up... A few more chapters are in work already.

**

* * *

  
**

While she was fighting an attack of dizziness, Hollis wondered how things could have taken a different turn if that fateful night down in Gibbs's basement hadn't happened.

What if she hadn't known about his first wife and daughter? What if she hadn't heard their voices filling the basement? What if she hadn't seen his grief, hadn't seen the pain it had caused? What if...

A dozen "what ifs" were swirling through her mind and she couldn't give an answer to them.

To any of them.

"Hollis? … Hol?!" It took Gibbs several attempts before Hollis reacted to his worriedly trying to get through to her. "You okay?" he asked lowly, watching her closely, his hand gently resting on her shoulder.

"Mmm-hmm. ... Yes, yes, I'm fine," Hollis lied, pushing back those thoughts that she hadn't allowed to control her life until now. "I just ... need some water."

Gibbs nodded and straightened up to get her some, but Hollis insisted on getting up herself and Gibbs stayed close beside her as they walked down to the kitchen.

After taking a few sips of water Hollis felt much better and without questioning she searched the boards and started to make coffee.

"I didn't know it was that bad. And I don't think the person who asked me a favor had any idea of its extent," she said as she placed a steaming mug of fresh coffee in front of Gibbs.

"It's decaf, but that's better than none at all," she added.

Gibbs drew a face, but started sipping the black hot liquid nevertheless. He was glad Hollis didn't refuse to talk with him.

Hollis wasn't hiding her feelings of disgust as she willingly explained what had brought her here.

_Would she also be willing to explain why she had moved to Hawaii without warning?_ Gibbs wondered.

"I got a call from a friend two days ago," Hollis started to explain as she sat down at the kitchen table. "Joe happened to be on the same ship as my _'proper'_ ex-husband. He informed me about his death. Seemed Captain Sumner wasn't shy of talking about his so-called female acquaintances. Well, about most of them at least. He obviously indulged in telling everyone about this wooden box of conquests, showing around pictures as well...."

Gibbs blinked. Having been a Marine himself, he remembered having experienced such behavior by fellow Marines a long time ago. But he hadn't been expecting it from a Captain.

Gibbs was listening carefully. Yet he couldn't help running his gaze over the frame of Hollis's body. Though being dressed casually -- in jeans and a simple pullover -- Gibbs still admired how Hollis managed to always look adorably feminine off the job. And having retired now only seemed to have added to this.

"Anyways," Hollis continued after pausing briefly to study the expression on Gibbs's face. What she saw made her feel queasy.

_Oh, Jethro, please don't look at me like that_, she thought. _I wish I could just have told you...  
_

"Joe was shocked when he found out that his wife was one of the Captain's numerous love-affairs. But he kept it to himself, decided to remain silent."

Furrowing his brow, Gibbs threw Hollis a questioning look, unable to understand how one could _'remain silent'_ upon learning about such a breach of trust.

"He still loves her," Hollis read his mind. Her voice was quiet. "His wife is the terminally ill girlfriend I mentioned upstairs. He wants to spare her the hurt about what a _gentleman_ the Captain was. I promised to take care of that box, so she won't find it, should she decide to show up here some day."

"I can't leave this box to you," Gibbs explained.

"I know," Hollis nodded. "But at least I can tell Joe that there is no need to worry."

Gibbs finished his cup of coffee and reached for the wooden case he had brought down to the kitchen with him. They had put all the medals inside, on top of the photos. He would hand over the locked box to Jenny and as a key had never been mentioned, he would simply pretend to not know anything about it.

Without exchanging a single word, they walked across the hall.

"Is there anything else I can do for you?" Gibbs asked when they reached the front door.

Hollis shook her head no. "I want to go through some papers before I fly back to Hawaii tomorrow morning."

Gibbs nodded. He regretted her decision to return to Hawaii and a reflection of sadness settled in his eyes.

"You going back?" It was a rhetorical question, but he had to ask her all the same. He wished it had played out other than this, wished he could change what had happened. But since he didn't even know what really had happened...

"Yes, I am going back," Hollis said. "I made a decision, Jethro. You couldn't, so I did."

"Let me take you to the airport tomorrow," Gibbs offered, unable or rather unwilling to ponder what Hollis had just said.

"Jethro...," Hollis slowly started to shake her head again.

"Please," Gibbs pleaded, making Hollis feel much sorrier for how this miserable situation ended than she already did.

"Okay," she gave permission. "At eight in the morning then?"

"Where?" Gibbs wanted to know.

"Right here." Hollis thought it was a better idea than to tell him where she was staying while she was in town.

"I'll be here," Gibbs nodded, but he didn't immediately move to turn and leave. He continued to look at Hollis instead, a questioning look washing over his face.

"What?" Hollis asked, fearing he would eventually ask her to explain why she had moved to Hawaii unexpectedly.

_To be continued..._


	6. Chapter 6

_**A/N:** Thanks for staying tuned to this story. I know there aren´t many Mibbs-fans out there and I hope to not mess with this story and disappoint you..._

* * *

Gibbs took in an audible breath, and then held it, realizing that what he had just been doing was trying to memorize the scent of her perfume. The perfume which he had immediately noticed the moment he had entered the house.

"_I don't wear perfume," she once had told him; Gibbs now was wondering what had made her change her mind._

"Nice perfume," he choose to be honest, leaving her no doubt how much he was regretting that she wasn't around anymore.

"Thanks. I thought now that I am not on active duty anymore, I might wear some." Her intention was to make this sound self-confident, but she immediately realized that she had failed terribly. In addition to that, it was only half the truth. She truly missed him. She loved the tangy note of this perfume and its wooden scent, which reminded her of the coziness of his basement and the wonderful time they had spent together.

Gibbs took in her sight for one additional second before he managed to tear himself away from her. With each step that separated him from her he felt torn more apart. It was much harder now to let her go again than when she hadn´t told him that she would move to Hawaii but simply had done so a few weeks ago.

_**-xxx-**_

Gibbs had only just sat down in his car when his cell phone went off. The ID announced it was Jenny who called him.

"Yeah?" Gibbs answered the call.

"Jethro, where are you?" Jenny sounded pretty nervous. "You are supposed to be back already!"

Gibbs smirked, assuming Madam Director probably was worried because she knew about the precariousness of this order. Gibbs could also tell that she feared he had found out the order was more than just about medals...

"Jen, calm down," Gibbs stayed calm and he took much pleasure in fooling her. He wasn't at a loss for an excuse. "I had some problems to deal with. The Captain's mind obviously was foggy from medication and he mixed up the code a little. It took me a while to open the safe."

"Jethro," Jenny cried out, making Gibbs grin mischievously. "You didn't mess with the safe, did you, Jethro?"

Jenny was waiting in shock for Gibbs to confirm her fears. Gibbs, however, was amused and remained silent for a few more seconds. Shortly before Jenny was going to yell at him again, he calmly answered her question.

"I didn´t do it any harm. I promise. It just took a little longer." Gibbs could literally hear the sigh of relief on the other end of the line. With a smug smile on his lips he wanted to know, "Why are you making such a fuss about it? Are you hiding something from me, Jenny?"

Gibbs didn´t expect to be given an honest answer, but Jenny chose to not answer at all.

He was fine with that. He briefly thought about digging a little deeper as to the fact if Jenny knew Captain Sumner had been Hollis's ex-husband. But he eventually decided to not address this subject. It could backfire.

_**-xxx-**_

For the rest of the day, Gibbs was absent-minded. This didn't escape the team's notice. But Gibbs's wasn't aware of all their looks and speculations.

Seeing Hollis again had churned up his emotions.

The following night consisted of coffee, bourbon and fussily sanding uneven parts of his boat. Sleep was not a question of choice and Gibbs was pretty aware that Hollis was the reason of this emotional turmoil.

And his offer to take her to the airport in the morning and her accepting the offer wasn't making it any easier for him...

_To be continued..._


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven**

In the morning Gibbs pulled up his car in front of the house, announcing his arrival by briefly pressing the horn. Since he had arrived on time, he decided to just wait for her to come out.

Sitting and waiting for her while sipping his coffee, Hollis's words from the previous day came to his mind.

"_Yes,__ I'm going back. I made a decision, Jethro. You couldn't, so I did."_

Gibbs finally allowed himself to be honest.

He indeed hadn't been able to make that decision. Her and him, it had been so different from all the other relationships he had been in before. He really had wanted to be with her, but he hadn't been able to agree to a lifelong partnership. Nor to even give it a try. As much as he had wanted to, but all his relationships since Shannon had ended in split ups, and always in unpleasant ways.

He still loved Hollis, therefore he wanted to spare her that.

But when _she_ had been the one to end it out of no specific reason, it had seemed wrong as well.

As soon as he dropped her off at the airport, they would never see each other again. This was the ending point of their relationship.

Stay friends? Neither of them was the type to _'stay friends'_.

It wasn't until he had taken the last remaining sip of his coffee that Gibbs realized how much time had passed already.

"Holli, if you don't come out now, you won't catch that plane." Gibbs impatiently sounded the horn once again and tossed off the empty container.

He sighed as he decided to leave the car to go over to the house to find out what was taking her this long.

For a brief second Gibbs even pondered the possibility that she might already have left. He wouldn´t put it past her. She had behaved strangely the other day. Strangely reserved. And cold.

That wasn't the Hollis he had known before.

It made him sad, yet there was no point denying that it had actually been him, disappointing her.

The front door was slightly ajar, so Gibbs dismissed the idea that Hollis could have left already. He slowly pushed the door open, calling her name.

"Holl?" Her travelling bag was sitting in the entrance hall. "Holl, you'll miss your plane. I can drive fast, but we should really leave now."

Gibbs listened.

Had there just been a noise?

"Hmm... ." There it was again, he hadn't been wrong.

It was coming from the far side of the hall, from around the corner.

"Hollis?" Gibbs quickly crossed the entrance hall.

"Mmmm... . Ow... ." Hollis was moaning lowly as she tried to bring herself into a half sitting position, leaning against the wall for support.

"Easy, Holl, easy. Let me help you." Gibbs suggested, crouching down beside her at the lower landing of the stairs.

Hollis was cradling her right arm. It seemed she had just been coming around from an unconscious state.

"Are you in pain?" Gibbs asked, though it was quite obvious, running a look over her body, one hand reaching for her arm, the other for her head to remove some strands of hair out of her face. Her fringe was sticky with blood and she winced as Gibbs gently brushed it aside.

"Shhh..., it's okay," Gibbs told her in a soothing voice while taking a closer look to the laceration on her forehead.

Hollis closed her eyes against the dizziness.

"What happened, Hollis?" Gibbs wanted to know. He glanced up the stairs, already knowing what her answer would be and he fought down the lump that was forming in his throat.

Falling down the stairs could end up in so many different, so many unpleasant ways.

"I fai...," Hollis slurred, but stopped mid-word, hesitating for a second before starting anew. "I tripped and fell down a few steps. What are you doing, Jethro?" she asked as she noticed Gibbs was pulling out his cell phone.

"I'm calling an ambulance," Gibbs stated matter-of-factly, without even looking at her.

"No!" Hollis exclaimed.

Her panic-stricken voice almost made Gibbs drop his cell phone. He glanced at her, trying to understand her reaction.

"Listen, it probably looks worse than it is, but you should really see a doctor. Your arm could be broken and you may have a concussion...." Though he was utterly worried, Gibbs somehow managed to stay all calm.

"I'm fine." Hollis said stubbornly, moving to get up. "I have a plane to catch!"

"The hell you have!" Gibbs snapped, the harsh tone in his voice making her freeze.

He hadn't wanted to be rude, but he never would have thought her that foolish.

"Sorry," Gibbs eventually voiced under his breath. After putting away his cell, he focused on the laceration on Hollis's forehead.

She let him.

"I'm going to look for something to clean this wound," he said in a reconciliatory voice and stood up. "Stay where you are, okay? I'll be back in a second."

Pffft! As if she had been able to get up by herself. Yes, she wanted to. She wanted to get up and run away as fast as she could. But she wasn't even able to get up on her own. Gibbs had only taken a guess, but Hollis was pretty sure that her arm was broken and her ankle did hurt as well. Letting her head rest against the wall, she closed her eyes, biting back the tears that threatened to fall from her eyes.

_To be continued..._


	8. Chapter 8

_A/N: Your wish is my command ;) Here´s the next installment. Thanks to my beta doomprincess for doing such a great job :)_

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**Chapter Eight**

Gibbs went to the bathroom where he found a fresh towel; he looked at his reflection in the mirror above the sink while wetting the towel under the cold running water. A face full of perplexity and worry was staring back at him.

Had she started a new relationship in Hawaii and out of respect didn't want to tell him? Why did she refuse to be taken to hospital? Was she seriously ill?

Reluctantly, he pushed his thoughts aside and went back to take care of Hollis.

---

Something cool touched the heated skin of her face. Groaning lowly, she opened her eyes to find Gibbs was dabbing away the blood from her forehead.

"Let me take you to hospital, Hol," Gibbs offered in a soft voice.

Much to his surprise, Hollis nodded weakly.

The apparent change of her mood made Gibbs wonder, but he assumed she had to feel extremely terrible if she gave in just like that.

"Okay, take your time." Gibbs helped Hollis to get up, steadying her.

Hollis winced as her knees gave way. She instinctively grabbed hold of his arm.

"Whoa!" Gibbs took over her weight, holding her upright, his arm tightly wrapped around her waist. "Okay, I got you."

Her ankle hurt, but she gritted her teeth and together they made their way to Gibbs's car. Awkward silence accompanied them.

Gibbs once again felt helpless. He felt Hollis's restraint as she seemed to try to back away from him to avoid too much of body contact. It hurt him that she didn't want to talk about what was bothering her. And right now he couldn't think of an adequate way of making her open up to him.

Apart from that one unfortunate evening in his basement when Hollis had played that tape, she had always pushed or at least tried to push him to talk. Gibbs wasn't used to being pushed, but for a strange reason that had never mattered when it came to her, he didn't mind when she pushed.

_He_, however, didn't even know how to _try_. And he didn't want to, now.

Hollis on the contrary was thankful that he wasn't talking at all. The tears she shed weren't just because of the pain she was in.

Gibbs helped her into the car. She looked exhausted and Gibbs stroked back some strands of hair that had fallen in her face. Tugging them gently behind her ear, he let his hand rest there for a second longer than he had intended to and thus he noticed that Hollis leaned into his touch. She had her eyes closed and was too exhausted to realize what she was doing.

"My god, Hollis, what on earth are you hiding from me?" Gibbs whispered, allowing worry and sadness to wash over his face. He didn't expect her to answer; in fact he was glad Hollis hadn't even noticed he had said something. His gut told him that something must have happened that he didn't have any knowledge of. He wanted to respect her wish to separate for good. Things probably were better this way, but he also wished to know why.

His ringing cell phone dragged him out of his train of thoughts. He silently closed the door to the passenger seat before answering it.

"Jethro," Ducky's voice greeted him. "I'm sorry; I'll be a little late. We need to put off our appointment. I'm on my way to Bethesda to get some files."

Gibbs cursed silently. He had completely forgotten about the meeting.

Rounding the car he told Ducky, "Listen, Duck, I'm on my way to Bethesda, too. I'll meet you there."

He ended the call, not waiting for Dr. Mallard's question about why he was heading for Bethesda.

Gibbs got into his car. Throwing another thoughtful look at Hollis's sleeping form, he sighed and started the engine.

What he didn't know, was that Hollis wasn't sleeping at all. Her mind was wrapped around the events of the past few weeks.

_Back then, in__ Gibbs's basement, when she unfortunately had played the tape, she had realized how much his loss did still hurt him. She had also realized that this, combined with how his following marriages had turned out, was the source of his reserved behavior whenever she had wanted him to commit to a serious relationship. _

_At that very moment she had felt deeply sorry for him._

_They had just looked a__t each other for endless moments, until Gibbs had eventually taken another audible breath._

"_Hol," he had started. _

_But he hadn't__ known what else to say. _

_Hollis's look had softened and she had walked up the stairs, coming to stand right in front of him. _

"_You want to be alone now," she voiced his unspoken wish, placing a loving hand on his shoulder to show him that she respected his need for distance._

"_I'm sorry," Gibbs had sighed in resignation._

"_It's okay, Jethro. Take your time. I'll call you when I'm back from my last mission in Hawaii."_

Her own words echoed in her ear. _"I'll call"_ had been his words as well when he had stolen himself away after they had spent their first night together ten months earlier.

Hollis had really meant to call, but something had happened that had sent her into an emotional turmoil, leaving her at a loss, unable to do what needed to be done. And it resulted in her running away and moving to Hawaii.

She hadn't thought about the possibility of running into Jethro when coming back to Washington to do a friend a favor. It suddenly became clear to her that time wouldn't stand still. Telling him the truth was inevitable, regardless how painful it would be.

Last night, she had cried herself to sleep...

_To be continued..._

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_A/N: _ _The next hours will change Gibbs´s life tremendously. But please be patient, I won´t be that fast this time ;-)_


	9. Chapter 9

_A/N:_ I actually wanted to finish typing up the complete story before continuing to post it, but I figured I can´t keep you waiting for this long. So there´ll be three chapters within the next couple of days.

Thanks to my beta doomprincess for proof-reading and patiently answering my questions :-)

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**Chapter Nine**

Ducky was pacing the entrance of the hospital, wondering why Gibbs was on his way there. After a couple of minutes Gibbs's car pulled up in front of the hospital. It took Ducky a second look to realize the person in the passenger seat was Hollis.

Hollis had been very quiet and didn't stir until they reached the hospital. Her head was spinning and she moved her good hand to her forehead, fighting dizziness, headache and a whirlwind of emotions that she couldn't name.

Fear.

Gibbs was at her side as soon as he brought the car to a stop.

Ducky had already called for a nurse to assist with a wheelchair. He wordlessly watched, frowning, getting more and more worried. Whatever had happened -- and from what he was seeing, Hollis being injured, something had to have happened -- he hoped to get an answer soon.

Three weeks ago, rumours had it that Hollis had moved to Hawaii after retiring. Gibbs didn't give away anything and no-one had dared to ask. Everyone had hoped that Ducky would find out what was going on and if Gibbs and the Colonel were still seeing each other, but Dr. Mallard refused to address this subject. He felt guilty. Though Gibbs had never accused him, Ducky feared, in the case they had separated, this could have been his fault because he had been so stupid as to tell Hollis about Gibbs's dead family.

And now? There she was -- with Gibbs , sitting in his car, and at the same time much further away from him than she probably could have been. Ducky could see there was something invisible separating them.

Gibbs just stood and watched as Hollis was wheeled away.

Ducky stepped forward, bound and determined to finally get an answer.

"Jethro, what happened?" he wanted to know after studying the emotionless, grim expression on Gibbs's face.

"She fell down a flight of stairs," Gibbs answered in a voice that didn't give anything away.

But Ducky was watching him closely and saw the twitching in the corner of his eye. In an attempt to try to hide this sign of emotion from his friend, Gibbs turned to shut the door to the passenger seat.

Ducky was shocked to hear about Hollis's accident, but his question had been aimed to get a reply to something different. And Gibbs's strange behavior told him, he was trying to evade this subject. Ducky wondered why he didn't want to admit to his worries.

"Jethro!" Ducky insisted, almost sounding angry as he threw Gibbs's back a warning look.

Upon the doctor's firm address, Gibbs's movements froze. The door had only just closed and his hand was still resting on the frame. With his jaw clenched and still turned away from him, he waited for Ducky to voice what exactly was keeping his mind occupied.

"What happened with the two of you, Jethro?" Dr. Mallard asked his question again, more direct this time, but even now he wasn't sure he would get an answer.

Gibbs had asked himself that question over and over again during the past 24 hours and he hadn't even come close to finding an answer. He stared into space, and suddenly he looked exhausted. He let out a long sigh before finally admitting, "I don't know."

Ducky thought it wise to not dig further for the time being. Gibbs continued to stare ahead without moving. Dr. Mallard decided it was prudent to change the subject and ask Gibbs to have a look at the files he had brought.

"You should...," Ducky started, but Gibbs got him completely wrong and harshly interrupted him.

"I said I don't know, Duck!" Gibbs shouted aggressively.

It wasn't until he turned around and really looked at Ducky that he realized he was misunderstanding him. Trying to compose himself, Gibbs took a deep breath. He felt awful for not having been able to keep his emotions under control.

Ducky suggested walking inside and talking to a doctor to find out about Hollis's condition, Gibbs nodded hesitantly and silently followed Ducky inside...


	10. Chapter 10

_A/N:_ Wow! I'm overwhelmed by your feedback. Thank you, everyone. There'll be some more Ducky/Gibbs interaction throughout the rest of the story, as I think Ducky is the perfect mediator.

Here's the next chapter already. Thanks to my beta doomprincess

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**Chapter Ten**

As soon as they entered the waiting area, Gibbs walked over to the window and kept standing there, without moving but simply staring out of it.

Dr Mallard tried to talk about a current case, but he immediately realized that Gibbs wasn't willing to discuss a case or anything else, so the two men stayed silent for almost an hour. Ducky called NCIS to let the team know they were delayed and he wasn't able to tell when they were going to return.

Gibbs wasn't talkative at all and didn't even react when Dr. Williams entered the waiting area to talk to the person who had brought her patient here.

"I'm Dr. Mallard," Ducky got up from the chair he had been sitting in and introduced himself to Dr. Williams. "Special Agent Gibbs brought her here," Ducky added, motioning over to Gibbs who still stood peering out of the window and even now he only briefly turned his head, then continued to look out of the window.

Dr. Williams frowned at this strange reaction, which fit the initially reserved behavior of her patient. But Hollis had opened up to her a little and she had been able to reassure her. For now, Dr Williams was confident that it was a good sign these men had stayed to wait for a diagnosis.

"How is she doing?" Ducky wanted to know.

"Well," Dr. Williams started to explain, "She broke her right arm, but it fortunately doesn't need surgery. A cast for 3 to 4 weeks will be sufficient. She also sprained her right ankle and she has a mild concussion. She lives in Hawaii?"

Ducky hesitated, looking over at Gibbs. But since he still didn't react, Ducky answered the doctor's question. "She had a flight back this morning. Agent Gibbs came to pick her and take her to the airport and he found her lying at the bottom of the stairwell."

Dr. Williams shook her head. "I can't allow a flight with the concussion and I want to keep her under medical observation for at least 24 hours."

"May we see her?" Ducky asked.

"Ummm... yes, but only one of you. And for five minutes only. Miss Mann needs to rest. Room 247. I'll show you there."

Assuming Gibbs would want to talk with Hollis, Ducky waited for him to move. But he didn't. Failing to understand his behavior, Ducky turned back to Dr. Williams, indicating his confusion by shrugging slightly. Dr. Williams pinched her lips. In fact, she, too, had hoped that this Agent Gibbs would have followed her.

"Thank you, Dr. Williams. Jethro, I'll be back in a couple of minutes," Ducky said and followed the woman medic. Maybe Hollis Mann could throw a light on this confusing situation.

Opening the door to Hollis's room, Dr. Williams reminded Ducky, "Please keep in mind, five minutes only," before leaving her patient and Ducky alone.

When Hollis saw Ducky walking through the door, she thought Gibbs would follow behind. She was sad, but also kind of relieved when he didn't.

"Hollis, my dear, I know you need to rest, but ... I wanted to...," Ducky stepped closer, and suddenly he wasn't sure anymore if he was doing the right thing.

"Hello, Ducky," Hollis greeted Ducky when he stopped talking. She avoided directly looking at him.

"I don't know what happened between the two of you," Ducky decided to directly approach the subject as he walked over to her bed. "Jethro doesn't want to talk about it. I'm sorry if this is the result of my meddling with ..."

"It's not your fault, Ducky," Hollis said lowly and turned her face away from him.

"It's okay, if you don't want to tell me, but if there is anything I can do to help, then just ... . Good ... Lord!" Ducky's voice trailed off as he was having a closer look on the patient's chart which was lying on the side table. He knew her arm was broken and he had actually expected to find a more detailed diagnosis and prognosis on the chart.

But he hadn't expected to find _this_. It didn't leave the slightest doubt about Hollis's condition.

When he looked up from the chart he saw Hollis was staring at him. She had turned to look at him again when he had stopped speaking. She could tell from the look on his face that Ducky knew. But she stayed silent, staring at him with wide eyes.

"Since when...?" Ducky left the sentence unfinished...

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_I guess it__'s pretty mean to stop here? I´ll be away over the weekend, but don't worry, chapter 11 is on its way to my beta doomprincess already. She's come down with the flu, so let's grant her a few days. Get well soon :)_


	11. Chapter 11

_A/N:__ Thanks for your lovely reviews. They makes me smile :) Here´s the chapter you´ve been waiting for. Once again, I couldn't resist to give a more detailed description of what might have happened after the disastrous ending of "Ex-File" and reveal "what" and "how" and "why"... _

_Thanks doomprincess for betaing__, despite being ill with the flu. I´m glad you are feeling better again :)_

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**Chapter Eleven**

Hollis didn't answer. She squeezed her eyes shut, and swallowed down the lump in her throat.

"Jethro, ... he doesn't know," Ducky assumed. It wasn't a question.

"No. No, he doesn't." Hollis took a deep breath and turned her face away from him.

"He ... isn't the father?" Ducky carefully asked. To him, it seemed to be the only reasonable conclusion. He wouldn't want to believe it, but why would she not have told Gibbs if he was?

Hollis felt like crying. She couldn't suppress some low sobbing any longer. Ducky sat down in the chair beside the bed and patiently waited for her to calm down. When the sobbing eventually subsided, Hollis stared at the ceiling.

"Yes. Yes he is," she said after long moments of silence. Her voice was quivering.

"Then why...?" Ducky was confused. He didn't understand.

"All those months, he had never told me about having had a wife and a daughter who had been killed. And when you told me, I was wondering why had never talked about it. I couldn't hide that this was occupying my mind, so I had to ask him. He looked so desperate, so broken." Hollis cradled her caste arm as the words came pouring out of her. "Yet, he insisted he is over it, but I could see how much it still hurts him."

"So you chose to not hurt him even more, and run off instead, without telling him about the baby?"

"No, I didn't know by then that I was pregnant." She couldn't stop herself from speaking out loudly what had happened. She thought Ducky deserved to know. "And we actually were fine that night. We went out, were laughing and then ... there was that tape with their voices on it, which I accidentally played, assuming it was music. God, it crushed him. I mean, it didn't make him angry that I had played it. He admitted how much he still suffered, how much he feared, something like this could happen again to someone he loves and that he would never be able to put them behind him. Sure, it made me sad, that he hadn't told me about them on his own, but I would _never_ expect him to forget about them. They had been an important part of his life. He wanted to be alone for a while, asking me to not push him if he wasn't able to let me in on this part of his past. Since I had already been assigned to a new mission, which would send me to Hawaii, I paid respect to his wish and told him I would call when I was back."

Ducky waited for Hollis to continue, but she stayed silent, squeezing her eyes shut again.

"But you didn't call." Ducky finally said.

"I was supposed to return after two weeks, but I had started to feel sick. Dizziness and exhaustion were haunting me, so I went to see a doctor." Hollis sobbed and laughed at the same time, cold shivers running down her spine, as she remembered the physician's diagnosis.

"_How old are you, Hollis?" The doctor had asked her._

"_Forty-four."_

"_Mmm-hmm," the doctor had nodded. "It's not happening every day, but it´s nothing unusual either, anymore. Take good care of yourself and the baby will be fine."_

"_Ba-...?" Hollis had been speechless._

The small smile on her lips vanished and the sadness returned. "I couldn't believe what he had just told me. I'll be forty-five soon and if anything I was thinking of dealing with the first menopausal symptoms. But ... pregnant? Me? It had to be a mistake. When I was in my early twenties, I had been told that I couldn't have children. Since then I had never worried about contraception. I started to panic. Jethro -- he knew that I couldn't have children and now I was pregnant. I should have been happy, but with what I had learned about his past only two weeks earlier ... I didn't know what to do. I took my remaining holiday and stayed longer than I had intended to, hoping for some ... kind of ... divine message, I think. It's just that I couldn't do this to him. It would kill him."

Ducky had had been listening patiently. There was no doubt he had to blame himself for this. Hadn't he told Hollis about Gibbs's family; she would not have faltered to tell Jethro otherwise.

Hollis turned to look at Ducky again and she let him see her fears as she repeated, "It _will_ kill him, Ducky. He has lost a family once. Moving on and having another child with another woman ... I think he looks at it as a betrayal. And I don't want him to suffer more than he already has and to admit to something ... something...," Hollis sighed helplessly.

"Maybe he sees it as a betrayal. Maybe not. The only way to find out is to..."

The sound of the door being forcefully pushed open interrupted them. Clinging to the door handle, Gibbs leaned into the room.

"Duck, we have a new case," said Gibbs, only briefly glancing at Hollis, before walking away in a hurry, leaving the door open.

Ducky quietly got out of his chair and placed one hand at Hollis's shoulder.

"He's confused, my dearest. He doesn't know what's going on with you and why you are try to avoid him. Tell him. As soon as possible."

Biting her bottom lip, Hollis nodded weakly. Yes, she knew she had to, and to be honest, she really wanted to. If only she knew what his reaction would be like...

If only she knew...

When Ducky had left, this thought kept bothering her and she came to the decision she had to talk with somebody else to find out...

_**-**__**xxx-**_

Ducky left Hollis's hospital room and followed Gibbs who had dashed off.

"Jethro!" Ducky called after him.

When Gibbs didn't react, Ducky spoke up. "Jethro!"

The admonishing tone in his voice was unusual for Ducky to use towards Gibbs and thus it didn't fail its desired effect. It made Gibbs stop instantly. He didn't turn around, though.

"You don't even want to know how she's doing, do you?" Ducky asked accusingly.

Sorrow was washing over Gibbs's face and it took him a while to voice his thoughts.

"I don't think she wants me to know. She abandons me, turns away from me whenever I come too close and I have no clue as to what makes her behave like that or why and when; and she obviously isn't willing to tell me." In an attempt to protect himself, Gibbs's voice grew harsh. A dozen scenarios had come to his mind while they had been waiting and meanwhile he couldn't help suspecting that Hollis had got involved with someone else while having been in Hawaii.

"Did you ask her?" Ducky wanted to know.

No, he hadn't. And he probably shouldn't. The last few weeks he had worked hard on getting over her.

He'd live.

Yet, she could have told him.

It would have hurt. Sure. But ... well, ... he would have lived.

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_Hope you are pleased with the outcome of Hollis's 'state of health'. But to whom does she want to talk to? And when will Gibbs learn?__ ... A couple of chapters are still left :-)_


	12. Chapter 12

_Sorry for not being faster with this. I guess it's because I want to make you suffer a bit *grins*. And I'm not done with it yet... but read yourself, and leave a review if you like ;-)_

_Thanks DoomPrincess for beta :-)_

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**Chapter ****Twelve**

Squeezing his eyes shut, Gibbs tried to swallow down his frustration as he realized that each thought about Hollis hurt. He just wanted to hide in his basement and drown this damn day in a bottle of bourbon.

Leaving Dr Mallard's question unanswered, he hurried off, leaving behind a helplessly sighing ME. They each took their own car to get to the crime scene. Gibbs of course had sped off at suicidal speed and probably had already reached the site by the time Ducky got into his car.

When Ducky arrived at the crime scene, the team was already busy bagging, tagging, shooting and sketching. It didn't take him long to sense a certain tension among the team and when he heard Gibbs yell, he knew his mood was still heading south.

"Take care, Ducky. Gibbs is pretty peed," Ziva hissed as Ducky passed her.

"Peeved," McGee corrected her, keeping his voice low and taking a cautious glance in Gibbs's direction fearing he could have heard them.

"Don't worry, my dear," Ducky said. "Dogs that bark don't bite."

"Are you sure, Gibbs knows this?" McGee asked.

Well, to be honest, right now, Ducky wasn't really sure about this. So he tried his best to stay strictly professional as long as they worked the crime scene. Only the most necessary words were exchanged.

Dark clouds were gathering in the far distance, so everyone sped up and not even one hour later they were on their way back to Headquarters.

Ducky ordered Palmer to prepare the autopsy on their dead body, while he himself walked straight to the squad room. There still was the case he and Gibbs had wanted to talk about in the morning. Ducky hoped that Gibbs meanwhile was in a better mood, but he sensed the bad atmosphere as soon as he entered the section that was occupied by Gibbs's team.

"NOW!" he heard Gibbs yell.

Everyone was quietly exchanging glances and Gibbs was shooting daggers at them as his phone went off and he picked it up. Ducky could tell he was in a _very_ bad mood. He went over to stand in front of Gibbs's desk, waiting for the agent to end the call. When he did, Gibbs looked up at Ducky.

"Don't vent your bad mood on _them_, Jethro," Ducky calmly said, slightly nodding towards the team.

"Anything new on the dead body in your morgue, doctor?" Gibbs asked, his voice dangerously dry.

Ducky tried to keep calm. "Jethro, you and Hollis ... I think you two should start talking with each other," Ducky suggested.

Although none of the others had been talking, Hollis's name brought up a spooky silence as everybody froze mid-action. They had all been wondering for a few weeks now if Gibbs and Mann were still seeing each other and Ducky's words hinted at some major trouble.

Gibbs continued to stare at Dr. Mallard in utter silence. The doctor obviously was in treading a thin line, with his life on the edge.

A blinding flash of lightning cut through the squad room, making everyone jump. Everyone, except Gibbs and Ducky, blinked.

"I suggest...," Ducky started calmly as the rolling thunder eventually abated.

"I told you, she doesn't want to!" Gibbs shouted abrasively and he ended up rising from his desk chair, rushing off.

"Jethro!" Ducky called after him. "Jethro!"

But Gibbs wouldn't stop. He got on the elevator and was gone.

Ducky sighed. Shaking his head, he went back to work on the dead body.

_**-xxx-**_

At about the same time, Hollis successfully managed to leave the hospital without being noticed. She caught a taxi, which brought her out of town.

_**-xxx-**_

"Doctor! Doctor!" Jimmy Palmer was trying hard to get Dr. Mallard's attention, whose thoughts were obviously occupied with other things than this autopsy.

"Doctor, have a look at his heart," Jimmy said, as Ducky finally awoke from his train of thought. "Do you think he had known about it being ill?"

Ducky squinted.

"I mean, if he had known, then he would have been under medical treatment, right? It would never have gotten completely healthy again, but ... since we didn't find any meds or ... Doctor?" Jimmy could tell that although Dr. Mallard had listened to him, his thoughts were still some place else.

"Sometimes ... it's not medical treatment that helps a person heal." With this, Ducky discarded his gloves, took off the scrubs he was wearing and gave Jimmy a pat on his shoulder. "Mr. Palmer, do you feel up to the challenge of finishing this autopsy without me?"

Ducky had come to a decision. He had to put an end to this chaos.

"Doctor ... Doctor?" Jimmy couldn't make heads or tails of what the doctor was talking about and his attempt to find out was left unanswered.

_To be continued..._


	13. Chapter 13

_A/N: Here__'s the next installment. It´s short, but I wouldn't want to make you wait too long again. Thanks DoomPrincess for betaing and thanks everyone for your feedback :-)  
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**Chapter Thirteen**

"Where is he?" Ducky asked as he found, Gibbs was not sitting at his desk.

Three agents looked at him and a little shyly they shrugged their shoulders simultaneously.

"He hasn't shown up ever since you ... eh ...um...," Tony squirmed and bashfully motioned to Gibbs's desk, than to Ducky and then with his other hand towards the elevator instead of simply telling Ducky that he had no idea. They all felt somewhat embarrassed that they had followed Ducky's latest 'conversation' with Gibbs. Tony couldn't hold back his curiosity, though. "Are they fighting?"

"Fighting? Heaven's no. It would have been a lot easier then," Ducky sighed and walked off.

There was only one place where he could think of where to find Gibbs. Most likely he had entrenched himself in his basement. Ducky decided to pay him a visit without calling in advance.

He had to put an end to this...

_**-xxx-**_

On unsteady legs Hollis descended the rough stairs, her mind completely absorbed with what was lying 10 feet below street level, where the taxi had dropped her off a few minutes ago.

Although she had been aware that a storm was closing in here as well, the sudden flash of lightning and the immediately following crash of thunder startled her so much that she twisted her already sprained ankle again and she almost lost her balance. Her legs turned to jelly and threatened to give in. Panting heavily, she sat down to digest the shock about almost having fallen down a staircase for a second time this day.

She didn't know how much time had passed, but as the first heavy raindrops started to fall, she struggled to her feet. Standing up hurt like hell, but she put up the fight and continued to hobble down the stairs as well as possible and after crossing the small gravel path she reached the boathouse...

_**-xxx-**_

When Ducky reached Gibbs's house, the thunder-storm had already moved on, but it was still raining like crazy.

On his drive he had questioned the rightness to interfere like this over and over again, but he felt guilty and responsible for this disaster. If he hadn't given in to Hollis's questioning demand, she would not have known about Jethro's dead family and she would not have hesitated to tell him about being pregnant. It _was_ just this simple. And it was all his fault.

Ducky entered Gibbs's house. Like he had expected, he found the special agent in his basement, working on his boat. Ducky went downstairs, but Gibbs didn't lift his head, not even when Ducky came to a halt only a few feet in front of him.

"Jethro, we need to talk," Ducky started.

"You could have talked about the case with Ziva or McG...," Gibbs said uncaringly.

"Jethro!" Ducky insisted.

Gibbs raised an eyebrow, but that was the only sign of emotion he gave away. "Okay, about what?" he asked, sounding annoyed.

"Hollis," Ducky said.

Gibbs rolled his eyes. "Did she ask you to bother me with that?" He wasn't sure whether to get angry or start to resign.

"No," Ducky answered in honesty.

"Then why the hell...?" Gibbs finally turned his attention away from the boat and furiously looked at the ME.

Ducky didn't hesitate to interrupt his flare-up. "Hollis is pregnant, Jethro."

_To be continued..._

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**_Uh-oh! __Cliff again :P _**

**_I so enjoy writing this :)_**


	14. Chapter 14

_**A/N: **__Hey, this was a small cliff only. It's really great to see how you get drawn into the plot. Hugs you all :-)  
But I really wonder: What would you have thought, if I had added the first two lines of this new chapter to the previous one before ending it? _

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**_... __Ducky didn't hesitate to interrupt his flare-up. "Hollis is pregnant, Jethro."_**

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**Chapter Fourteen**

Throwing Dr. Mallard a suspicious look, Gibbs tilted his head. "Yeah," he grinned disapprovingly. "Sure."

This was ridiculous. Didn't Ducky see that he was making a fool of himself?

"You don't believe me, do you?" Dr. Mallard wasn't really surprised at Gibbs's reaction.

"No, Duck." Gibbs nonchalantly turned his attention back to his boat.

Ducky sighed. "I can't blame you for this, Jethro. This is entirely my fault because I told Hollis about your first wife and your daughter."

"I know," Gibbs said, not even lifting his head.

"If I hadn't, then this would not have happened," Ducky didn't stop to reproach himself.

"Listen, Duck." Gibbs interrupted his work again, glaring at his Medical Examiner. "This is not your fault. And I can't blame her for moving on. Whether this is because she has fallen in love with someone less complicated than me or whether she is sick of D.C.'s unsettled weather. But stop making a fool of yourself. You don't need to invent a pregnancy to make it easier for me to let go of her. You shouldn't try to piss me off, Duck."

At this very instant, Dr. Mallard's cell phone went off. His face was full of concern as he listened to the person on the other end of the line.

_**-xxx-**_

After Hollis had entered the boathouse, she had slowly walked over to the hull of a boat, which was placed on a carriage and hidden under a big green tarpaulin. She didn't dare to touch it, at first. Holding her breath, she laid her hand on top of it -- gently, as if taking care to not hurt it.

He had told her where he kept it. They had even come here once or twice.

"Hey," she whispered, before her fingers started ghosting over the cover. When she reached the back end of the hull, she carefully lifted the tarpaulin and uncovered the painted signature. With pinched lips, she looked at it, recalling when she had first walked into his basement, and had seen it for the very first time.

"I didn't mean to hurt you," she apologized, remembering how he had firmly grabbed her hand and forced her to stop scratching at the varnish with her fingernails.

Hollis leaned back against the wooden wall of the boathouse and cowered down on the footbridge. Her eyes kept tracing the signature as she started her silent conversation.

_**-xxx-**_

Before Dr. Mallard ended the call, he promised the person he was talking to, to see if he was able to help and that he would call back. Taking a deep breath, he looked up at Gibbs.

"This was Dr. Williams from Bethesda. Hollis disappeared from the hospital," Ducky told him.

"Yeah?" Gibbs didn't sound worried in the least. He had almost accepted it as a fact that Hollis must have fallen in love with someone else. And if so, then why should he -- Jethro -- worry about her any longer? "She probably is on her way back to Hawaii already. She can take care of herself pretty well. Maybe there's even someone waiting for her there. But stop looking for excuses, Doctor. Hollis can't have children."

Though Ducky had already understood that talking some reason into Gibbs was a somewhat difficult task, he hadn't thought it would be _that_ difficult. Ducky sighed, then he tried again; his voice insistent. "That's what she was told more than 20 years ago. But there is no doubt that she is pregnant now. Hollis has left the hospital without permission. She has a concussion and due to her pregnancy she is fighting dizziness, which also is the reason why she fainted this morning and fell down the flight of stairs. Luckily the baby was unharmed, but next time she might not be that lucky."

Gibbs felt a stabbing pain. That was what she had wanted to hide? A new relationship _and_ a baby? He should have been angry, but all he felt was sadness that Hollis hadn't been honest to him.

"Then why don't you call the father and tell _him_ that she is missing?" Gibbs suggested resignedly, his face strained.

This was definitely too much. Incredibly pissed at his friend's stubbornness, Ducky couldn't hold back his anger any longer. He stepped closer, until he wasn't even an arm's length away from Gibbs and then Ducky glared at him. He dangerously emphasized every single word as he spoke it.

"Leroy Jethro Gibbs! It is about _damn_ time someone gives _you_ a proper smack over the back of _your_ head! I _am_ telling the father! Right at this _very_ moment! But for some stupid reason he doesn't want to see it!"

_To be continued ... of course ;-)_


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter Fifteen**

In Gibbs's basement a spooky sort of silence had suddenly set in. Although the medical examiner was a bit smaller than the special agent, Gibbs had the feeling that Ducky was towering above him in this moment.

When Ducky had called him by his full name, Gibbs had known his friend was really peeved at him. But Dr. Mallard's next words were those which literally had made him turn into a pillar of salt.

"_I _am_ telling the father!"_ Ducky's words were echoing in Gibbs's ear quite clearly. Hollis was...? And he, Leroy Jethro Gibbs, was...?

Gibbs simply stared at the M.E. while his mind was trying to process Ducky's words. The feeling it created inside of him was indescribable. It was a mixture of heat and cold, of worries and ... love. His head was spinning. He wasn't able to voice the words his lips were forming silently.

In his mind he relived the last days and nights that Hollis and he had spent together. Back then, when she had left without a word, he had been convinced that it had been his fault. And to a certain amount he still believed it was.

Then he remembered having seen her again the day before at the Captain's house. He remembered how he had admired her feminine air and how he had recognized her change in habits like wearing perfume. A scent that had somehow reminded him of ... the smell of sawdust.

And suddenly everything started to make sense. Her strange behavior. Her sudden pale complexion. The way she had backed away from him. Why hadn't she told him?

And then he saw her lying at the lower landing of the staircase. She had faltered when he had asked her about what had happened. She had told him she had tripped, but she hadn't! She had fainted! God, how... she could have... the baby could have ... . Damn! _Why_ the hell hadn't she told him?

"She was afraid to hurt you." Ducky's voice entered his mind, sounding as if from far away.

Gibbs hadn't been aware that he had at some point started to talk aloud.

"What?" he asked with confusion.

"She had only learned about your family two weeks earlier," Ducky explained. "She was afraid that telling you about the baby would hurt you even more and make you feel like you were cheating on them. It's entirely my fault, Jethro. I had no right to tell her."

Gibbs looked very thoughtful. And worried. Then he slowly shook his head. "That's not... . That doesn't really matter now." His voice was calm at first. But then he realized that Hollis had run away from the hospital and now she was somewhere out there. Alone. Injured. With no one to take care of her.

"Where did you go, Holli?" Gibbs murmured. He reached for his cell phone, speed-dialed her number and waited. Panic crossed his face as nobody answered his call.

_**-xxx-**_

The thunder-storm was unleashing its power directly above the boathouse now as Hollis pressed herself further into the corner of the boathouse. Her body was shaking from cold and fatigue. Tears were welling in her eyes as she listened to the pattering rain.

Yes, Jethro had kept the family-part of his past a secret from her, but that didn't give her the right to hesitate in telling him that he was going to be a father again. She wished she hadn't forced Ducky and made him tell her. Then she wouldn't have faltered.

Hollis felt incredibly guilty. She reached for her cell phone, but found that she must have lost it outside. If only she was able to stand up and walk on her own... She would at least have to wait for the rain to ease.

_**-xxx-**_

The panic had taken hold of Gibbs completely. Moving across his basement, he started to conjure Hollis to pick up the phone. But she didn't, which made him panic even more.

Uttering a loud growl of frustration, Gibbs suddenly slammed the open palm of his hand against the wall. Breathing heavily, he squeezed his eyes shut and leaned forward. The pain helped him focus and he started thinking coherently.

He ended the call and punched in another number. The call was answered almost immediately. At the same moment, Gibbs started to rush up the stairs, motioning to Ducky to follow him.

"Spec..."

"McGee," Gibbs cut off his special agent barely that he was answering the phone. "I need you to locate a cell phone." He didn't even wait for McGee to say something but gave him Hollis's number right away.

"Who...?" McGee wanted to know, but he again was cut off by one very anxious Gibbs.

"NOW, McGee!" Gibbs barked, while running towards his car, pointing to Ducky to indicate that he should get into the passenger seat.

"McGee! What the hell is taking you so long?" Gibbs impatiently yelled as he reached his car, not realizing that barely a second had passed since he had given him the number.

As soon as the system delivered the requested information, McGee gave the position to Gibbs.

Gibbs's heart skipped a beat. With a heavy sigh, he let his hand -- in which he was holding his cell phone -- drop from his ear and leaned against the car, not knowing whether he should be relieved or worry even more.

"Where is she, Jethro?" Ducky asked with concern.

"She's with Kelly."

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_A/N: I hope Gibbs's reaction is sort of what you hoped it would be like - finally. Now, there's only one chapter left (which __really makes me sad).... :-(_


	16. Chapter 16

_**A/N:** Sorry this took me so long. But I hope you enjoy it nevertheless.__ There also is a little surprise at the end of this chapter..._

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**Chapter Sixteen**

Gibbs probably drove faster than he ever had in his entire life. He was driving as if the devil himself was after them. Even though Ducky had become acquainted with Gibbs's driving skills a long time ago, he couldn't recall a situation when it had ever scared him more than this time.

It still took more than 20 minutes to reach the small boathouse at Chesapeake Bay, where he kept his unfinished boat.

"When did she tell you?" Gibbs all of a sudden started to speak. Ducky was surprised not only by Gibbs vocalizing concern but the seeming, yet eerily calm manner in which he did it. His voice was calm and yet angst-ridden.

Still petrified from Gibbs's way of driving, it took Ducky a few seconds to regain his composure.

"She didn't exactly tell me. Only after I voiced my suspicion. As a physician I could easily assume from the data on her patient's chart and the listed medication or let's better call it non-medication." Ducky hesitantly admitted.

"Non-medication? Duck, you are not telling me she has a concussion and a broken arm and doesn't get any medication?" Gibbs suddenly sounded very upset.

"Basically ... ahhh ... yes," Ducky stammered, which led to what he had already feared would happen. Gibbs stepped on it. Hollis being in pain made his gut twist. She didn't deserve this!

As they passed the boathouse from the road above, Gibbs took a sudden sharp turn and sped down the gravel path which led to the small boathouse. At the same time he delivered a sharp mental smack to the back of his own head. What if she had fainted again? What if she had slipped on the planks? What if she hadn't answered his call because...? It was too horrible for him to continue the thought.

Slamming on the brakes he brought his car to a halt directly in front of the entrance to the cabin and got out of the car the very same instant. Catching sight of Hollis, he stopped abruptly as he entered the boathouse. Huddled in the corner to his right, her head was resting against the wall, her hair disheveled, her face turned away from him.

"Holl...," he breathed, fighting the heavy lump that was tying up his throat.

He could see her chest heaving evenly, but she didn't react to the men's arrival. _Thank god, she's alive, _Gibbs thought as he carefully approached her. Crouching down beside her, he gave her a quick look-over to check for new visible injuries. When he couldn't make out any, he sighed with relief.

"Holli," he softly repeated her name two or three times, watching as she slowly seemed to wake up from sleeping.

"Hmmm..." Her eyelids fluttered and she tried to lift her head and turn into the voice's direction.

Gibbs reached out his hand to carefully remove her hair out of her face, stroking it back gently. Her face was cold and she started shivering. Gibbs took off his jacket and put it on her shoulders. Other than this, he was paralyzed. He didn't know what to say. He was afraid she woudn't want him to be there.

"Jethro," Hollis said and she swallowed hard as their eyes met. "Jethro, I ... You... We... ." Her breathing became ragged as she started to panic.

Gibbs suddenly moved forward and took her in a tight embrace, a split second before she burst out into tears. He held her and rocked her gently, while covering her with the blanket Ducky had fetched from the trunk of his car. Wrapping it around her, he continued to stroke her hair, whispering, "I know, Holl. I know," against her neck.

After exchanging glances of mutual consent with Gibbs, Ducky went outside, to give the two of them some time together.

When her sobbing subsided, Hollis shyly leaned back, but she still was too confused and too worried to understand what was happening. Gibbs didn't break contact with her; his hand was still resting in the back of her neck.

"I'm so sorry, this happened," Hollis finally said. "There was no way I ever could have seen this coming. Maybe, if you had told me, then I could have ... we might have ...," she let her voice trail off and she immediately tried to avoid his gaze, knowing this thought was ridiculous.

But Gibbs wouldn't have been Gibbs if he didn't know what she had wanted to say. He tilted up her chin and gently turned it so that she would look at him again.

"Then what?" he asked softly and waited for her to look him in the eye again. When she did, she found his face had lost its tension and he was smiling cautiously. "Would you have started taking the pill? Just ... in case?"

Hollis bit her lip and again lowered her gaze. Now that he had spoken it out aloud, it sounded even more ridiculous.

"Or would you have preferred other ... arrangements? Maybe..." He brought his lips close to her ear and lowered his voice to whisper in her ear.

The noise which escaped her upon his suggestion was a mixture of a stifled laugh and a sobbing. Gibbs pressed his lips softly to her ear.

"I love you," he whispered and placed a soft kiss close to her ear before leaning back to look at her and see her smile timidly. "Both of you," he reassured her softly. Then his face changed to a serious expression again, causing Hollis to look worriedly again as well. "You are right, Holli," he said. "It scares the hell out of me, but ..." He took a deep breath and his face lightened up again. Being overwhelmed by the emotions that were surging inside of him, he struggled for words. "A baby. ... This is... . Wow." Tears were glistening in the corner of his eyes.

"Yeah, this is wow," Hollis murmured, trying to put her own feelings into words. A small smile appeared on her lips. But she wanted Jethro to know by all means that, "If I hadn't known about your family, I would have told you immediately."

"Yeah, I know you would have." He didn't have the slightest doubt. Then his look got thoughtful. "But I'm not sure what my reaction would have been like, then. I probably would not have been able to open up to you even then and I would have probably hurt your feelings because you would have assumed that I didn't want the child and you would have been disappointed and ..."

"That happened to one of your other marriages?" Hollis interrupted his sudden flow of words.

"No," he said, realizing for the very first time that none of his three ex-wives had ever even mentioned the idea of having children with him.

"Hey, you all right?" Gibbs asked, noticing the tense expression on her face.

"Jethro, I'm scared. What if...?" she said, but Gibbs silenced her by laying his finger across her lips. He looked at her, eyes wide open and slowly shook his head. She could see he was worried as well, but there was also confidence lying in this silent gesture.

"Let's get you back," he suggested.

_To be continued..._

_Did you like it? Can you hear Gibbs saying 'wow'? _

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_**A/N: **__This was supposed to be the very last chapter of "On The Run", but you might agree, something is missing here. So there will be at least one more chapter plus an epilogue, in one of which I sure will have to mention Jenny again. _

_I had__ -- well, still have -- so much fun writing this story, even if actually typing and posting it often took a long time. Thank you everyone who stayed with me and thank you for all the wonderful reviews. Don't stop them, because I love them a lot._

_Thanks to my beta doomprincess for patiently answering my questions and for doing a great beta-job! _

_Also, if you__'d let me know what else you'd like to see going on between Hollis and Gibbs, I'll try to see to it. Or maybe you even have an idea for another Mibbs (as I seem to lack them momentarily)?_


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